


Never In Our Favor

by Toaverse



Category: Onward (2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mention of Death, Mentions of a crushed skull, Mentions of past child death, mention of suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24592555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toaverse/pseuds/Toaverse
Summary: In penance for their uprising, each of the 11 districts where each live a specific creature shall offer up a male and a female between the ages of 12 and 18 at a public “Reaping”.These Tributes shall be delivered to the custody of The Capital.And then transferred to a public arena where they will fight to the death, until a lone victor remains.Henceforth and forevermore this pageant shall be known in Yore as The Hunger Games.(An AU where Onward is in a The Hunger Games setting.)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	Never In Our Favor

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I couldn’t resist this AU :/
> 
> For the ones who haven’t read the Hunger Games books or have seen at least the first film, the basics of the first film are hopefully decently explained in this fic, so you don’t necessarily have to watch the films or read the books to understand something.
> 
> Oh, and Barley is 19 in this fic, because angst reasons :)
> 
> Now, enjoy!

In penance for their uprising, each district where each live a specific creature shall offer up a male and a female between the ages of 12 and 18 at a public “Reaping”.

These Tributes shall be delivered to the custody of The Capital.

And then transferred to a public arena where they will fight to the death, until a lone victor remains.

Henceforth and forevermore this pageant shall be known as The Hunger Games.

And it’s a living nightmare for district 6...

Ian tosses and turns in his bed, not being able to get any sleep over tomorrows event that will take place.

The reaping of the 49th hunger games.

The event alone scares the teen elf, just like most other elves in his district that are between the ages of 12 to 18.

But something about this year’s reaping will be different for Iandore, that being his older brother.

Barley has always promised him that he will volunteer if Ian ever gets chosen, which the younger brother begged and pleaded with him not to. Fortunately for them, that never happend. But unfortunately, Barley has turned 19 this year, which means he isn’t allowed to participate in the hunger games anymore.

Of cours, Ian felt a ton of relieve knowing that his older brother never got chosen in those 7 reapings, and knowing for sure that he will live. But another part of him wants his brother to stand next to him again like they did since Ian’s first reaping, waiting in dread as they hold each other’s hand tightly, knowing that they are in this together.

But tomorrow, Ian will be in this alone.

Thinking about that makes Ian want to see his big brother again, wanting to spend time with him while he still can. Just in case...

Ian got out of bed, reaching for the door handle to open the door, and then closing it when he’s out of his room. And before he even knows it, he stands in front of his brother’s room, ready to carefully open the door.

The 16 year old waits a few seconds, having his hand already on top of the door handle, and then slowly and quietly pushes the door open.

Having the door open, Ian can clearly see that Barley can’t sleep as well, already sitting up at the sound of the door opening, looking at his younger brother.

“Hey...” Barley says, shifting to sit on the edge of his bed. “Also can’t sleep?”

Ian shakes his head as a “no”, wanting to be completely honest to his brother about this. And from the on his face, Barley can immediately see what bothers him.

“Come sit here for a second.” The 19 year old says, patting the space next to him. Ian complies, sitting at Barley’s left side. “You know that there’s a pretty small chance you will get chosen, right?” The older brother says, trying to reassure the younger one. “Others have their name more then 20 times in, one of them will be certainly reaped.”

“But there’s still a chance...” Ian says, his mind clouded with all the negative outcomes.

“Then you’ll destroy those other 21 with your glorious trident skills your big brother has taught ya!” Barley cheers, putting an arm around his younger brother.

Ian can’t help but crack a smile. The brothers have been training in the woods together for years in case one of them gets reaped for the hunger games. Both Ian and Barley know that training before The Hunger Games is illegal, and that only the mermaids from district 1 can get away with it, but both brothers stuck up a middle finger to The Capital and did it anyways. And they have some of the best memories in that forest.

It will be a secret they will take in their grave.

In their (illegal) training time, Ian developed natural skills for using a spear and trident, having only practiced with long, sharp pointed sticks for years. So Barley saying he can at least kill some of the other tributes with those skills may not be far from the truth.

“Hey, you’re not going in. I’m sure of that.” The 19 year old says. “And remember; I’ll be right behind you.”

It reassures the younger Lightfoot, feeling the fear and dread lift a little in his mind. Ian smiles at his brother, thankful for his calming words.

“Thanks, Barley.” Ian says, pulling the older Lightfoot in a hug. Barley doesn’t answer, only hugging his baby brother back.

“Wanna throw some knifes at the wall?” Barley asks after pulling away from the hug, to which the 16 year old nods.

After quietly sneaking into the kitchen to get some kitchen knifes, Ian comes back with 4 of those, 2 for him, and 2 for Barley.

They aimed and throw the weapons at the wall for hours, practicing while both getting some more dread out of themselves while doing so. 

It was around 3 AM when both brothers got tired, and fell asleep in each other’s arms, having enjoyed and still enjoying each other’s company.

•+•

The sun rises, as the day of the reaping arrives.

And Ian can’t be more nervous for it.

He stands in front of the mirror, messing with his bright purple tie out of nervousness while also trying to get it tied. Barley sees how nervous his younger brother is, and decides to just help him with it.

“Do you require help, brother?” He asks just in case, to which Ian nods in agreement, still having a nervous look on his face.

It has always been a kinda tradition for the Lightfoot brothers to wear a bright purple tie in honor of their deceased father for special events. Barley can clearly remember that their dad always wore ugly bright purple socks, so why not honor him with a purple tie? Other elves may look at them weirdly, but the brothers can’t care less about them.

“And done!” Barley says, after fixing Ian’s tie a bit, to which the younger elf gives him a thankful smile.

“There you two are! We gotta go-“ Laurel calls out her two sons, but cut herself off seeing her youngest, her heart filling with pride. “Look at you! You look so handsome!” Ian smiles shyly, but also a bit embarrassed. “Happy hunger games...” Laurel says to her two children after she sighs.

“And may the odds be ever in your favor...” Barley says, mocking The Manticore’s accent.

The youngest Lightfoot can’t help but let out a chuckle, feeling slightly better, before the three of them are out the door, walking to the reaping.

It didn’t take long before it gets a bit crowded with the other elves of the district, the younger ones anxiously hoping that they don’t go into the arena. Peacekeepers also begin to spear as the family of three walk further, looking at all the elves to make sure they don’t pull a stunt of some sort.

The three Lightfoot’s eventually see a row of kids signing themselves in, as well as a crowd that stand in front of the podium that already has signed in.

“Alright, mom and I will be in the back row. You’ll sign in and stand with the others, okey?” Barley explains, putting a hand on Ian’s shoulder to get his attention. He nods, knowing exactly what to do, before joining the row.

As long as the row may seem, it rather moves quickly. And before Ian knows it, it’s his turn.

“Next.” The peacekeeper says, to which the 16 year old steps forward, giving his right hand. The peacekeeper holds the back of Ian’s hand slightly, taking a bit of blood out of his index finger, bringing it to tab a paper afterwards which leaves a fingerprint of blood. The masked creature then scans the bit of blood, signing him in. “Go ahead.”

Ian then walks to the crowd of of boys who’s names are also in the reaping bowl. He can practically feel the tension between all of them, that being of dread. God, you can almost cut it with a knife.

Despite everyone being there, it stays dead silent for what feels like forever. Nobody makes a sound or move, all of them waiting for The Manticore to be on the podium. Then the microphone beamed, giving some of the elf kids a mini heart attack. And there stands The Manticore.

“Welcome everybody!” She says as if it’s her birthday. “Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!”

Ian, along with many other elves his age, cringe of hearing that phrase, knowing that their district is known for literally never winning.

“Now, before we begin, we have a very special film, brought to you all the way from The Capital!”

Knowing exactly what film The Manticore is talking about, Ian can’t be bothered listening to it. They play that film every reaping, about how The Capital defeated the 11 districts during the war of Yore, and wiped out the goblins and giants from district 12 and 13, creating The Hunger Games as a punishment for the 11 remaining.

Looking at the footage on the screen, Ian can’t help but think about previous hunger games that Barley once told stories about.

The 25th hunger games, also known as the first Quarter Quell, where the adults had to go into the arena instead of the children, leaving some kids orphaned while seeing their mother or father getting murdered.

The 33th hunger games, where there was no victor, the last two tributes from two different districts that stood having committed a double suicide, eating poisonous Nightlock berries against The Capital’s protests. Rumors still go around that those two tributes had fallen for each other, and that The Capital purposely didn’t air footage of them to prevent another rebellion.

And then you had the 37th hunger games, where the most gruesome and most brutal murder in the history of Yore took place, filmed so that everyone in the country could see it unfold. A male troll had crushed a female faun’s skull, first gouging her eyes out with his thumps before using all his strength to destroy the girl’s head. Her screams where torture for districts to hear, some covered their ears and shut their eyes to block the horror that they had to watch, but peacekeepers made sure that everyone watched.

God, what a mess that was...

“Now, it’s time to select one brave man and woman, to represent district 6 in the 49th hunger games.” The Manticore says. It snaps Ian out of his thoughts, paying attention again. “As always, ladies first.”

She walks up to the bowl where all the names of the females are put in. She puts her hand in, moving her fingers a bit to the left, then to the right, and then pulls out a slip of paper out with a name on it. She walks back to the microphone, opening the paper to read the name.

“Sadalia Brushthorn!”

Tension rises as they all hear the name that is called out. Ian can see how most of the girls make room for Sadalia to go up to the stage, all being too selfish to say anything to her. She slowly walks to the stage, trembling in fear.

Once she’s on the stage next to The Manticore, you can clearly see how terrified she is. For most elves, Sadalia doesn’t look like the elf to kill, let alone to hunt.

“And now, for the boys.” The Manticore says, walking to the other bowl of names afterwards.

She does the exact same thing, moving her hand to the left, then the right, then pulling out a slip of paper with a name on it.

As The Manticore walks back to the microphone to read the name out loud, Ian can practically feel his heart bursting out of his chest out of nervousness, hoping the exact same thing all the boys around him hope.

“Iandore Lightfoot!” The Manticore calls out.

Upon hearing his name, Ian’s blood stiffens, his ears fill with ringing as his heart beats faster in his chest. He feels all the eyes of the other boys on him, making room for him to go on the stage. Ian walks slowly closer to the stage, his mind running all over the place.

Barley’s mind is also in the same place, as he sees his worst nightmare unfold. Memories of him and Ian in play in his head, more specifically those from their childhood. No, he can’t let this happen!

As if his body moves on his own, Barley makes his way out of the crowd towards his little brother, who is also out of the crowd of elves.

“Ian!” The 19 year old calls out, almost running towards his brother. Ian turns around to see his older brother, but Barley is quickly grabbed by 4 peacekeepers, holding him back. “I-I volunteer!” He calls out, desperate to save his little brother from going in the arena. “I volunteer as tribute!”

A dead silence hit again, everyone watching the scene playing in front of them. Ian looks his big brother straight in the eyes, begging him to change his mind.

“May I ask how old you are?” The Manticore asks Barley, already knowing that the elf is gonna be disappointed.

“19, but-“

“Then I’m afraid you can’t volunteer anymore...” The Manticore says, before gesturing the peace keepers to bring Ian to the stage.

Barley wanted to say something, but two peacekeepers forcefully grab Ian by his arms, dragging him to the stage. Looking his little brother in the eyes one last time, Barley can see fear in them, fear of the arena, as well as death. The 19 year old himself is being dragged away by the two other peacekeepers as well, bringing him in the crowd again.

“Here they are, the tributes of district 6!” The Manticores announced once Ian is on stage next to her on the right. She put her paws each on the two elves’ shoulders before taking a step back, gesturing the two to shake hands.

Both Ian and Sadalia get the message as they turn 90 degree around, standing across from one another, and shake each other’s hand as The Manticore pleases, both elves thinking the exact same thing as they look at each other.

‘We’re in this together.’

“Happy Hunger Games!” The Manticore says. “And may the odds be ever in your favor.”

She then led Ian and Sadalia to a door with The Capital’s logo on it, away from the crowd of elves and away from their district. Ian looks behind him, trying to see a glimpse of his mother and brother one last time, but it only lasts a second as the door closes behind the three of them.

**Author's Note:**

> And that’s it.
> 
> I shall leave the rest to your imagination :)


End file.
